The Ghost
by Sonata Raye
Summary: Yami Mikazuki is a master asassin whose emotions are 'nonexistent' to her peers. Only to her few friends is she known as 'a good person'. Can such a girl find a lasting friendship, and possibly something more with a man who wages war within himself? Rated T for safety. Bruce Banner/OC; Set before, during and after the movie.
1. Chapter 1

**The Ghost: Chapter One**

**Sonata: Wassup?**

**Yami: -groans-**

**Sonata: Well, no need to contain your excitement!**

**Yami: Sorry, it's just that I'm rather bored...**

**Sonata: Wow, really feeling the love here! (sarcasm)**

**Tony: Hey hey hey, why is YAMI getting all the screen time?**

**Sonata: Well, it's because I have a surprisingly hard time socializing with the other Avengers.**

**Clint: Stark, you're needed on the Helicarrier.**

**Natasha: Ms Raye, you may not publish this story unless you complete the following. -hands Sonata a REALLY REALLY long list of requirements and a contract-**

**Sonata: 0.0 Uhh... does that have to be now?**

**Natasha: Yes.**

**Sonata: … Fine. -goes off to a separate room to fill out papers and mutters something about stupidity and SHIELD-**

**Yami: Well, now that that's over with, Sonata doesn't own Avengers, or any of it's affiliations.**

**Sonata: HEY! I WAS SUPPOSED SAY THAT!**

* * *

As I finished my cartwheel, I leaped into the air and spun while throwing four shuriken (ninja stars) from each hand. I flipped while still in the air and landed on one hand. I looked at my targets. One star was out of place... I need more practice. I sighed and gathered my stars and was about to begin again, but I was stopped by my boss- Nick Fury.

"Agent Mikazuki, I need you to stop glaring at me and start listening. I have a job for you." My ears perked up at that. I haven't been on a mission in ages.

"So, who am I supposed to 'coerce'?" I asked with a bored tone.

"Nobody. I need you to protect someone." I looked at my boss with shock. "Is there a problem?" He asked with a raised brow.

"No sir, it's just that I thought that it would be something more important than baby-sitting." I replied with a raised brow of my own.

"Well Agent, this 'baby-sitting' is making sure that this man doesn't become stressed, have any near-death experiences, or angry." He said, his face never showing any expression (except for maybe boredom).

"Wooow, this is sounding even more exciting~." I said, with my voice dripping with sarcasm.

"Maybe this will change your mind." He said while tossing me a file and a tablet. I caught both deftly.

I opened the file and immediately wondered what anyone would want with this graying man. That was, until I read the rest.

"Oh. That changes things." I said with surprise at what I had read.

"There's more." He said while gesturing to the tablet. I picked it up and played the video on the page shown (not without apprehension).

As soon as it was finished, I was even more shocked.

"That was... surprising, to say the least." I said while handing him the items.

"So.. will you comply, or will I have to find someone else?" He asked with impatience laced in his words.

"Well, considering the likelihood of anyone else accepting, and the damage he could cause if he were unwatched. Alright." I said with a smirk.

"Are you sure? You might not return from this mission if you're not careful." He said as though he were talking about the weather.

"Yes, after all, what kind of ninja would I be if I backed down from every challenge?" I said with every bit of confidence I could muster.

"Very good, you will be flying out in two days." Just as he was about to leave, I stopped him.

"When will I be debriefed?" I asked.

"On the way there." He finally left.

"_Thought he would never leave..."_ I thought glumly. _"Maybe now I can actually practice." _I thought as I threw three stars at one target. All of which hit the centre.

* * *

As we flew above the Atlantic, Agent Romanov debriefed me on my mission.

"So, do you have any questions?" She asked me.

"No, thank you." Agent Barton entered the sitting area of the quinjet.

"Agent Mikazuki, we will be landing soon. Nat, they'll need your help in landing the thing." Agent Romanov nodded, and quickly said to me:

"Agent Mikazuki, when you return, try not to turn _all_ the targets to tatters." She said with a smirk.

"No promises, Agent Romanov." I grinned.

* * *

It's been three months since I arrived in Calcutta, and Dr. Banner is, quite simply, boring. He has the same routine as any other doctor would. I leaned back against the head of my bed and sighed._ "Why on earth was I placed here? It seems that none of the good doctor's enemies know he's here, so I'm not needed, am I?"_ I thought with yet another sigh. I decided that I should stop being so gloomy, so I sat up and walked over to my telescope and peeked through it.

"_Hmm... Anything noteworthy tonight?" _ I wondered humorlessly. Just as I was about to bring my telescope up to look at the stars, (or the lack thereof) I saw something. I tilted it back down and saw a man with a _very_ large bundle heading towards Dr. Banner's home. I pulled my telescope away from the window and changed quickly into my SHIELD uniform. Once I was done with that, I slid my window open, hopped onto the window sill and leaped for the roof (while closing the window with my feet). As I grabbed the roof, I hoisted myself up and did a brief handstand then landed back on my feet. I promptly dashed across the rooftops until I came to Dr. Banner's roof. I soon saw the same 'inconspicuous-yet-completely-conspicuous' man with the bundle. I crouched down and well, blended in with roof. He seemed to be merely looking through the window, and then walked away.

"_Did I get worked up over nothing?" _I wondered while feeling rather annoyed at having wasted my time.

I felt that way, until I saw him making his way to a house across the street.

"_Where are you going now?" _I wondered as I watched him. I waited for a bit, then saw him in one of the rooms... setting up a sniper rifle. I clenched and un-clenched my teeth.

"_There's no way you're going to kill this man. Not on my watch."_ I thought confidently. I hurriedly made my way across the street, (stealthily) and snuck up into the room the sniper was in. I quietly walked behind him (not too close though).

"Hello, what are you doing up here?" I asked him._ "Blast! I forgot to use the accent!"_ I remembered worriedly. He jumped in surprise. When he turned towards me, he was glaring.

"I could ask you the same thing. What's a _Brit_ doing here? And what's with that outfit of yours?" He asked with a raised brow.

"Oh, me? I'm merely... SHIELD Agent Yami Mikazuki. You are under arrest for attempted assault on a person under the protection of SHIELD." I said while showing him my badge. This got him angrier.

"What does SHIELD want with the Hulk?" He asked venomously.

"None of your business." I said while moving to apprehend him, but unfortunately, he grabbed my wrist, spun me around and pulled it behind my back.

"If you think I'll go down that easily, you have another thing coming." He remarked icily.

"Actually, I was prepared for this sort of thing." I replied right before stomping on his foot (since he's too tall for me to hit his jaw with my head), and once he released my hand, I flipped over him. I landed on his shoulders and stomped on his head, then jumped once more and kicked his back- hard. That lead to him collapsing, and I smacked him on the head, thus knocking him out. I cuffed him, and lead him out the door.

"Agent Williams, I have apprehended a man who has... questionable items in his possession. Most of which were probably illegally obtained." I said into my comm.

"_Alright, I'm tracking you right now, and I'll meet you there." _The man replied.

"Very good, thank you."

Soon after, we met behind the building and he took the sniper away. Once that was all over with, I went back to my home, and rested. And that was probably the most eventful thing that happened during my three months there.

* * *

A couple months later, I noticed the good doctor being followed. The 'stalkers' weren't even being very subtle about it. I bounded after them from my bench (without blowing my cover), and walked along the street. As I neared the stalkers, I pretended to trip once I was near enough, and they were startled.

"Ow! My ankle! I think I twisted it!" I said while using the American accent. Two of the stalkers came to me and were a little worried._ "Huh... Maybe they aren't all that bad..."_

"Are you alright?" One of them asked.

"No, I'm not alright! My ankle's twisted!" Wow, I sounded whiny.

"Here, let me check- I am a doctor after all." My eyes widened in shock when I realized that the one talking to me now was Dr. Banner._ "I am so screwed!"_

"A-are you sure?" I asked while making myself sound American.

"Of course. Here, lean on me and I'll get you to a bench." The stalkers had left since staying any longer would make them obvious.

"Thank you." He helped me get to a bench that wasn't anymore than a few yards away. Once we got there, he sat me down on it and lifted my legs onto it.

"Which ankle?" He asked me.

"The left one." I answered while faking a hiss at having it moved.

"Okay, tell me if this hurts." He said while poking and prodding my ankle. It actually did hurt a bit- maybe I really twisted it.

"Ow ow ow..." I said with a _real_ grimace on my face.

"Now here." He said while poking a different area of my ankle. I let out a hiss.

"Yeah, it's twisted alright. Come on, I'll take you to my place so that I can wrap it." Wonderful, I have a twisted ankle. One word: unprofessional. If Fury finds out, I'll never hear the end of it...

After a few minutes we reached his home, and he had a bit of trouble opening the door (especially since I was leaning on him). When we were inside, he helped me get to a couch and left me there for a bit. While he was away, I decided to analyze my surroundings. It was a pretty small home when compared to my apartment (how curious). It only had two rooms, a bedroom and the main living area (which was where I was). The living area had a _very _small kitchen, one couch, a little stool and a small table. Bookshelves lined the walls, and books about many types of sciences filled them.

Soon, the doctor returned and he started wrapping my ankle.

"So, um... Wh-what's an American doing here?" He asked me nervously. I rose my eyebrow at this, then I remembered that I was using the American accent.

"Oh, I'm a researcher. I'm studying several plants here to see if they would be good for creating medicines, their properties and basically more stuff to fill textbooks on Botany." I said with a shrug. It was getting rather hard to ignore the pain.

"I see." He seemed relieved that I wasn't... something else. Probably a SHIELD agent... Oh well. This man was rather paranoid, but I didn't put it past him. How would you feel if you turned into a big, green monster every time you got angry or stressed?

"I'm currently studying the *Bignoniaceae of the asterids specie* to see if it has any healing potential." Dr. Banner let out a quiet 'hmm'.

"That's interesting." He said dully.

"Yes, it is." We- well, I sat in awkward silence as he wrapped my foot. I was relieved once he was done.

"Be sure to keep weight off of that foot, and if the pain is too much, you can come here and I'll give you some pain-killers." He said while showing me to the door.

"Okay, thank you. Um.. How much do I owe you?" I asked him tentatively.

"Nothing. All I did was wrap your foot." He smiled.

"Are you sure? I must have been a bother. At least take this." I said while handing him what equaled (approximately) $25 in the area's currency.

"N-no, really, i-it's fine." He stuttered.

"I insist. And I won't leave until you take it." He sighed and took what equaled about $5. I raised my eyebrow at him, and he took what was the equivalent of $10.

"Go ahead and take the rest." I said while handing him the rest.

"No, that's all I'll take." He said with an exhasperated tone. I shook my head, and smiled. This guy was really adamant about not taking payment. Or at least, what payment he deserved.

"Alright then, what can I do to fully thank you?" I asked him.

"Nothing. You owe me nothing."

"Alright then." I sighed, then smiled at the good man. "Goodnight, Dr...?" I knew his name, but he didn't know that.

"Banner- Bruce Banner." He held out his hand for me to shake.

"Pleased to meet you, Dr. Banner. My name is Rei Minazuki." I said while giving him one of my aliases. I took his hand and shook it firmly.

"Well, if you ever need anything, you know where to find me." He said still smiling.

"Yeah, let's hope it's not because I accidentally made my ankle worse or something." I said with a toothy grin.

"Let's hope not." He grimaced.

"Well, goodnight, and thank you again, doctor." I said with a wave and left his 'home'. I let out a sigh once I was out of earshot. _'Oh dear... I really mucked it up this time... I'm quite simply out of practice... Fury! This is what you get for not sending me out as often as you should!' _I thought angrily as I hopped to my hotel room.

Once I reached my room, I set up my 'dart board', and practiced throwing small knives (trust me, it's a lot more alleviating than puny darts). I sighed once my toy had been rendered useless due to the many holes. I pulled my knives out and looked out the window. _Huh... a lady being mugged. Better help her out. _I thought as I threw one of my (slightly bigger, yet really light) knives at the man's hand that was holding the gun. I smirked as he let out a howl of pain. The lady wrenched her bag from the man's grasp and ran away. The cops soon came and arrested him. The lady looked around for her saviour. I closed my window and blinds before she could see me. _It's better not to gain attention, good or not. After all, who would be thankful for _me_ saving them?_

* * *

I've was there for six months... During this time, Banner and I have had a few accidental meetings, and a few that were planned. From those meetings we became friends. Really good friends. Every now and then I paid him a surprise visit. Usually, he would be displeased, but would eventually lighten up and enjoy my visit.

_I have nothing going on today, maybe I can pay the doctor a visit!_I thought as I left my room. As soon as I left the hotel, someone contacted me on my comm.

"_Agent Mikazuki, we need you to bring in the doctor."_ I stopped dead in my tracks. _Now? But we've been friends, he'll feel like I betrayed him... _I thought worriedly. I couldn't hurt him. I just couldn't.

"_Agent Mikazuki?"_

"Alright." But I had to do it.

* * *

**Sonata: FINALLY! That stupid list Natasha gave me was SO FREAKING LONG! Oh, and please note that in my story, Bruce is like... 30-or-so, and Yami is is 27.**

**Tony: Wait... so that chick is actually in her LATE TWENTIES!?**

**Yami: Uh, yeah why? -is mildly annoyed that he called her 'chick' and doesn't believe her age-**

**Steve: No offense ma'am, but you look... 18 at the oldest.**

**Yami: My asian charm.** Dr. Banner, are you alright?**

**Bruce: -is mind-blown by Yami's actual age-**

**Yami: Dr. Banner?**

**Bruce: Oh, um, yes?**

**Yami: Uh.. nevermind.**

***I sorta just pulled those off the internet.**

****I'm not racist, I'm asian too.**


	2. Chapter 2

**The Ghost: Chapter Two**

**Sonata: -yaawwwnnnn-**

**Yami: Are you _always_ tired...?**

**Tony: Need a picker-upper? -hands me coffee-**

**Sonata: Thanks... -sniffs- Mmm... Irish cream creamer... wait... I smell alcohol! STARK!**

**Tony: What?**

**Sonata: You spiked the coffee!**

**Tony: -shrugs- So? Who cares if you get a little tipsy?**

**Sonata: I do! I'm still underage! And quite frankly, the smell of alcohol is horrible... **

**Tony: Whatever, besides, all I said was that it was a 'picker-upper', I never said it was _just_ coffee.**

**Yami: Sonata does not own Marvel's Avengers in any possible way. Copyright goes to Marvel Comics, and Evanescence.**

**Sonata: DON'T STEAL MY LINES! Oh wait... nevermind, that was the disclaimer.**

* * *

(Yami's POV)

I awoke with a bad feeling in my gut. _That's right... I have to tell him..._

"_Agent Mikazuki, we need you to bring in the Hulk." I stopped dead in my tracks. I couldn't betray him..._

"_Agent Mikazuki?"_

"_Alright." But I had too, no- I _have _to._

I had sinking feeling that things wouldn't go too well... I mean, I'll be going against _the Hulk. _That's not exactly a one-man job. _But then again, I'm not completely disadvantaged. _I thought morosely. I sighed and dreaded what would happen later. I would miss our friendship, he's such a nice man- and a good friend. Although, he would've found out eventually. Naturally, even coming out and saying I'm a SHIELD agent under normal circumstances would put a strain on our relationship. So either way, he would end up hating me. _Well, that's depressing. _I sighed again, and decided that I could never have a lasting friendship so long as I was a SHIELD agent. I changed into inconspicuous clothes, and turned the doorknob of my hotel room door. I opened it, and speak of the devil. There was Bruce Banner, with his hand raised to knock.

"Uh-um... Hi." He said nervously.

"Oh, hello doctor. What is it?" I asked, barely disguising my chuckle at his nervousness.

"H-hello, R-Rei, I was wondering if y-you would like to have di-dinner with me later?" He stuttered with a slight... blush? I smiled at his nervousness, and he returned it.

"I'm sorry, but I'm busy this evening. Would lunch work?" I asked him with a blush of my own. _What's wrong with me?_

"Sure." He replied a little crest-fallen. I felt really bad, but I would feel even worse if I let him pay for my dinner only for him to hear that I'm actually a SHIELD agent there to recruit him.

"Okay, see you in a few hours." I was about to walk away, but he grabbed my wrist. It was firm, but not painful. I noticed that his hand was rather calloused.

"Ac-actually, I was wondering... would you like to go on a walk? Th-through the jungle." He asked, even more nervous than before.

"Sure, that sounds exciting." I said with a sincere smile.

"Let's go." He smiled and grabbed my hand. I let out a quiet gasp of surprise. He must have heard, because he gave me a sheepish grin. I sighed and let it slide. We walked together in companionable silence.

* * *

(Bruce's POV)

As we walked through the jungle, I could tell there was something wrong with Rei. I just didn't know what. She seemed... nervous, which isn't really like her at all. I wanted to ask her what was wrong, but I couldn't find the courage. What if it were about something about her leaving? Or something that happened with her family in Japan? I really didn't know if I was the right person to try and comfort her. I'm awkward, and my... mentality would make it difficult if I got m-mad for her. I saw her notice some native aster flowers, but she didn't examine them. Strange, since she was here to examine them for her work. I didn't think much of it though. I suddenly noticed a touch of sadness in her large, brown eyes that were normally happy and brimming with confidence. But now they were sad, and timid. That encouraged me to ask her.

"Is s-something wrong, Rei?" There goes my stutter again...

"N-no, why?" I gave her a look saying that I wasn't buying it.

"It-it's just... my work... Th-they said that I'm going to be... reassigned..." She said sadly.

"When?" I said feeling sad myself. I would miss her... She was my friend, and I would miss our talks, having spontaneous dinners together, seeing her smile, hearing her voice, her laughter and that twinkle in her eyes when she was happy... Just her presence made me happy.

"Tomorrow." She said quietly.

"I'll miss you." I said. I was fighting a large temptation to hug her right then.

"I'll miss you too... You are my good friend." She said, turning towards me with a sad smile. I stroked her hand that was still intertwined with mine. I returned her smile.

"Come on, let's end this morning on a happy note!" She said, with fake happiness. She ran ahead, her hand still in mine. I didn't want to let go of this small hand, not yet.

* * *

(Yami's POV)

We reached a little market, and we both got food. I refused to let him pay for me, especially since I just made him sad a few minutes ago. Eventually we had to let go of each other's hand. I missed the contact. He had to leave for a minute to use the restroom, so I was on my own for a bit. I saw a little girl a few feet away. The only difference between her and the other children was that she didn't look hungry. I stood up and walked towards her.

"Hello, are you looking for me?" I asked her.

"Yes, I am here to assist you tonight if you so wish." I nodded and told her what I had in mind.

"Very well, wait at the shack in the out-lands at 9:00 tonight." I nodded and sat back down in the same spot as earlier. I saw Banner coming back.

"Sorry to keep you waiting." He said while scratching the back of his neck.

"No worries." I said with a twinge of guilt.

"Rei, do you have time to talk some more this afternoon?" He asked with a touch of hope.

"I'm sorry Bruce, but I have to start packing my things." He seemed sad, but then noticed that I called him by his name.

"Why does it have to be the day before you leave that you _finally_ call me by my name?" He asked bitterly.

"I'm sorry, it's just the way I was brought up. I'm accustomed to calling people by their last name or calling doctors 'sensei'." I explained.

"I see... Sorry, I overreacted." He apologized.

"It's quite alright." In my sympathy, I slipped and had a slight accent.

"What was that?" He asked. _He probably heard my British accent._

"I said, 'It's alright.'." I repeated, except with the American accent this time.

"Oh, thanks." He said with a grimace. I felt another pang of guilt.

"I have to go as soon as I finish lunch, I'm sorry." I said feeling even more sad.

"I-I see... Maybe we could phone each other from time-to-time?" He asked hopefully.

"O-of course." I said. _Why do I keep lying!?_

"Great." He said with a small smile. I looked at my lap and saw that my lunch was finished. _Whoops._

"I have to go now. I'll miss you, Bruce." I did something stupid and hugged him. He froze for a bit, but then returned the hug.

"I'll miss you too. Can I see you off tomorrow?" He asked. I stiffened, then said

"If you wake up at 4:00 you can." I said jokingly.

"Let's hope I do." He said sadly. I broke away from the hug, and gave him one last sad smile and left.

"Goodbye, Bruce Banner!" I called while walking backwards. I turned back around and started walking towards my hotel.

I didn't get hear him say, "Goodbye, Rei Minazuki." with a sad tone.

* * *

Back at the hotel.

_My stupid emotions. Guilt, sadness, happiness, joy... I don't need them! All I need are anger... determination... malice... and confidence...! _I thought angrily as I slashed mercilessly at my dummy.

I checked the clock and it was 8 pm. _I had better shower._

After my shower, it was 8:20. I wore my usual 'Evanescence' t-shirt and khaki bermudas with my gray sneakers. I stepped out of my room with my duffel bag in tow. I went down to the lobby and checked out. I ran outside, scaled the side of a building (not without trouble, of course. I'm not Altair!), and leaped across the rooftops, and once I was close enough, I slid down a pipe then dashed to the shack. _8:50. _I was a little early. All that was left, was to wait. And wait I did.

* * *

(Bruce's POV)

I was tending to a patient in my home, when a little girl came. The lady who brought this man here tried to shoo her away, for fear of her getting sick. The little girl stayed and pleaded that I treat her father. I followed her, and she led me down a busy street, out of the city to a shack. I had a sinking feeling in my gut that something bad would happen, but I didn't know what so I followed her inside. As I stepped inside, I saw her exit through a window.

"Should've paid up front, Banner." I said to myself.

"Good evening, doctor." An all too familiar voice said from behind some curtains.

"Rei..."

* * *

(Yami's POV)

"Good evening, doctor." I said to him using my actual accent.

"Rei..." Banner said with disbelief in his tone.

"I am SHIELD agent Yami Mikazuki. We need your help." I said, inwardly grimacing at how I lied to him all this time.

"Rei- I mean, you lied to me this whole time, _Mikazuki_...?" He asked feeling betrayed.

"I had to. Now, I need you to take a look at this file." I said, my voice and face betraying no emotion.

"What is it?" he asked, his voice dripping with anger. _Oh no... I really, really wish they sent Romanoff._

"This is the Tesseract, we need you to help us track it down, then you're free to go." I said with the same tone Fury gave me when h told me to come here.

" 'Free to go'... I highly doubt that. SHIELD, was it? You guys are going to monitor my every move after you 'let me go'... So I'm not going to be 'free' am I?" He was shaking... with anger.

"Sir, please calm down." I said nervously.

"Calm down? How can I, when I know I'm surrounded!?" He yelled.

"It's just you and me." I said matter-of-factly.

"WHAT!? EURRGGGAAAHHHH! YOU FOOLISH GIRL! YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHAT I COULD DO TO YOU! AGGGGHHHHH!" Banner yelled. Suddenly, Banner wasn't Banner anymore. He was the Hulk.

"HULK SMASH!" He yelled. I dodged just in time. He brought down his giant fist, and smashed the table. _Well, there goes the file._ I thought as I scaled the wall behind Hulk, and leaped from the wall onto Hulk's back.

"HULK SMASH SMALL GIRL!" He was about to drop onto his back, but I leaped onto his shoulder and grabbed onto his waist just as he fell.

"BRUCE! No- HULK! I'M NOT GOING TO HURT YOU! BRUCE, I KNOW YOU'RE IN THERE! I ALSO KNOW THAT YOU WOULDN'T WANT TO HURT ME! SO PLEASE CALM DOWN! PLEASE!"I yelled, hoping that Hulk- no, Bruce would understand. Especially since they're the same person.

"REI HURT BRUCE, HULK SMASH REI!" _Oh dear, words are not going to get me out of this one._

* * *

The Helicarrier.

(Bruce's POV)

I awoke in a strange all-white room. I squinted, getting used to the bright lights.

"He's awake!" I heard an unfamiliar voice call.

"He-hello doctor, how are you feeling?" The nurse asked me, obviously nervous.

"Tired." I answered quietly. _I messed up. I killed Re- no, Mikazuki._

"How many people did I hurt?" I asked worriedly.

"Nobody." I sat up, shocked.

"Wh-what about Agent Mina-Mikazuki?" I asked, disbelieving.

"She's fine. She only has a few minor cuts and bruises." I was shocked, and felt my jaw drop.

"Wh-where is she?" I asked.

"Right there, asleep." She gestured towards a table, and there she was, sitting there fast asleep.

"Th-thank you." I felt my anger towards her dissipating at the sight of her sleeping face. I knew though, that my trust in her would never be fully repaired. There were also my feelings of disappointment to deal with.

"I'll be fine, you can go now." I said, my voice firm. She nodded and left. I looked around and saw a dark purple button-up, and some pants lying on a smaller table next to the bed. _Just like what I wore earlier. _I looked down and saw that I was wearing a hospital gown. I looked some more, and I saw a tablet. Curiosity got the best of me, and I turned it on. I pulled up the only file that was there, and what was shown, was me, fighting her.

_She ran up a wall, and leaped onto the Hulk's back. He began to fall back, and just in time she leaped and ended up grabbing onto the front part of the Hulk's waist._

"_BRUCE! No- HULK! I'M NOT GOING TO HURT YOU! BRUCE, I KNOW YOU'RE IN THERE! I ALSO KNOW THAT YOU WOULDN'T WANT TO HURT ME! SO PLEASE CALM DOWN! PLEASE!" she yelled, hoping that the other guy would understand._

"_REI HURT BRUCE, HULK SMASH REI!" He brought down his fist again, but she disappeared then reappeared next to him. This angered, and confused him, but he just got up and prepared to strike again. She disappeared again, and appeared after he attacked. This time she was behind him._

"_BRUCE!" he turned to look at her, he snarled, "STOP! I KNOW YOU WOULDN'T HURT ME, BRUCE! YOU'RE MY FRIEND! SO PLEASE, CALM DOWN! PLEASE!" She pleaded._

"_REI HURT BRUCE! HULK ANGRY!" the other guy yelled._

"_I KNOW! I'M SO SO SORRY! I WISH THAT I DIDN'T HAVE TO LIE TO YOU! I WISH WE MET ON REGULAR TERMS! SO PLEASE BRUCE, CALM DOWN! YOU'RE MY FRIEND! BEING YOUR FRIEND WAS NOT A LIE!" she cried._

"_REI BRUCE'S FRIEND, HULK NO HURT REI." the other guy promised._

"_REI NO HURT BRUCE NO MORE." he said sternly. She laughed._

"_I promise big guy." She said with a relieved smile._ _The other guy shrunk, and there I was, on the ground. Thankfully she closed her eyes and threw her jacket my way to cover me up._

"_Sleep soundly, Banner." She walked away, and it cut off._

"You are something else, Rei- no, Mikazuki." I said with a shake of my head. I looked at her with a smile on my face. To my horror, her head jerked up and she had a faint blush on her face. _Great, she heard me._

* * *

(Yami's POV)

I awoke at the sound of my name. I looked up and saw Banner looking at me with a smile on my his face. _He's awake!_ I jerked up.

"Um... Hello Dr. Banner, did you sleep well?" I asked nervously. I saw the tablet in his lap. _I guess it's time to explain._

"Y-yeah, I slept pretty well." He stammered. "Um, Mika-" He didn't get to finish as Agent Coulson came in.

"You're needed for debriefing." I pointed at myself and rose an eyebrow.

"Yes, you too." He said with an unreadable tone. I was surprised. Why would Fury want me?

"Very well. I'll leave the room so that Dr. Banner can change comfortably." I said as I walked towards the door. It slid shut behind me, and I waited outside.

* * *

(Bruce's POV)

I thought it was strange that the agent didn't leave yet.

"You shouldn't stay angry at Yami. She lied to you because she had to." I was surprised at how much this man knew.

"I'm not a-a-a.."

"Angry?"

"Yeah, I'm not anymore. I-I just feel that, well... I c-can't really l-look at her the same way any-anymore. That I ca-can't trust her as much as I did before." I said looking at my lap.

"I understand, but you should know that you are a very important friend of hers. Which is saying something." I rose my eyebrow at that statement. _Me? Her important friend? Doesn't she have other, and better friends?_

"To answer your unsaid question, she doesn't really consider many people her friends. And to tell you the truth, I'm not so sure she considers me one." He said with a slight frown of confusion. "Well, I'll be waiting outside. Go ahead and change." He said as he spun on his heel and exited the room.

"_I WISH THAT I DIDN'T HAVE TO LIE TO YOU!" _She couldn't have meant it.

"_I'M SO SO SORRY!" _ She was... sorry..?

"_BEING YOUR FRIEND WAS NOT A LIE!" _She _did_ mean it. _Boy did I mess up..._ I promised, right then and there, that I would try to repair our friendship. I realized that I was sitting there and thinking for too long, so I started dressing.

* * *

**Sonata: I apologize for slight OOCness from Phil and Bruce. The Marvel characters all have very diverse and complicated personalities.**

**Yami: Wow, you make me pretty cheesy.**

**Sonata: So? Everyone likes a little bit of cheese every now and then!**

**Bruce: …**

**Sonata: I'm sorry I broke your 'no incident' record, but I just had to do it!**

**Tony: Good job! Now, let's see if I can get him to react...**

**Sonata: Oh no! Not in my room! Oh yeah, please review!**


	3. Chapter 3

**The Ghost: Chapter 3**

**Sonata: Hi hi hi! Just so you know, don't expect me to update this often all the time.**

**Yami: Yeah, we know... You have two other stories you're working on as well. You should really just stick to writing one at a time.**

**Sonata: But writing multiple at a time helps me stay inspired!**

**Yami: Whatever you say.**

**Sonata: … I don't own Marvel Avengers, the song 'I'm Going Under' or the iPod. Copyright goes to Marvel, Evanescence and Apple.**

* * *

(Yami's POV)

As I stood in the hallway, many agents came and went, all absorbed by their current jobs or assignments. I felt no reservations about letting my emotions show, since everyone was too busy to notice my usually stoic self looking glum. I soon noticed I was still wearing the clothes I wore yesterday... Oh well. I took my headphones out of my backpack and started listening to music on my iPod. 'I'm Going Under' started to play and I closed my eyes to think.

_I'm going to have to tell him. Tell him what I am, and what I was... He'll probably hate me even more... _I thought bitterly. _He was probably staring at me earlier because he saw the footage... He thinks I'm weird, just like everyone else. I'm so stupid, blushing just because he stared at me. I don't even like him that way... Do I? Of course not! I couldn't! _After those troubling thoughts, I felt someone nudge my shoulder. I took off my headphones and found the disturber. It was Coulson.

"Hello, Agent Coulson. What is it?" I asked him with a frown.

"Hello, Agent Mikazuki. How many times must I tell you to call me 'Phil'?" He greeted me.

"I don't know, but you still haven't answered my question." I replied this time raising my brow.

"I just wanted you to know we'll be leaving for the Briefing Room* in a moment." I groaned at the thought that he disturbed my (relative) peace just to tell me we were going to leave.

"Also, you had a rather uncharacteristic blush before I nudged you." I gaped. "Just thought that you might want to maintain your reputation." He said with a smirk.

"Well, I guess I owe you one." I muttered.

"I guess you do." He said, the smirk still present.

"You weren't supposed to hear that..." I said under my breath.

"I know." I rolled my eyes. Thankfully, Banner came out and I said a very quiet 'finally'.

"Time to go?" Banner asked tentatively.

"Of course. Follow me." Coulson led us down a series of hallways. (I don't know the way because I was in Calcutta during all the 'tours'). We walked there in awkward silence, and I let out a quiet sigh of relief when we got to the Briefing room. Once we got there, I saw a tall blonde man (he's probably Captain America judging by Coulson's sudden change in demeanor), Natasha (where's Barton?), Agent Hill and Director Fury. I saw Captain Rogers give Fury a ten dollar bill. _What was that about?_ I wondered. Fury and Rogers saw us and came over.

"Hello, my name is Steve Rogers. Nice to meet you Dr. Banner, and miss...?" Rogers held out his hand for us to shake.

"Agent Yami Mikazuki. Pleasure to meet you." I shook the offered hand. He let go and offered his hand to Dr. Banner.

"Pleasure to meet you, captain." Banner said, shaking his hand.

"Doctor, thank you for coming." Fury said, out his hand to shake. I could tell that Banner was reluctant to take it.

"Thanks for the- uh, ride." He said referring to me. I chuckled nervously. "So how long am I here for?" He asked tentatively.

"Once we get our hands on the Tesseract, you're in the clear." Fury answered.

"Where are you with that?" Banner asked.

Coulson answered this time. "We're sweeping every wirelessly accessible camera on the planet. Cell phones, laptops. If it's connected to a satellite, it's eyes and ears for us."

"You need to narrow the field. How many spectrometers do you have access to?" Banner inquired.

"How many are there?" Fury asked.

"Call every lab you know, tell them to put the spectrometers on the roof and calibrate them for gamma rays.

"I'll rough out a tracking algorithm based on cluster recognition. At least we could rule out a few places. Do you have somewhere for me to work?" Banner asked.

"Agent Romanov, would you show Dr. Banner to his laboratory, please." Fury instructed Natasha.

"You're gonna love it, doc. We've got all the toys. Agent Mikazuki." Natasha addressed Banner and I.

"Yes, Agent Romanov?" I asked.

"If you want to develop some new 'toys', you can work in the lab as well." I grinned mischievously.

"Of course I would. Lead the way." I followed Agent Romanov and Banner.

* * *

She led us down another series of hallways until we reached the lab. I saw a few counters full of things that were obviously for Banner (and probably Stark later on). Then I saw a counter full of different chemicals, metals, some gunpowder, and various other things. _That has me written all over it. Thanks Fury!_ I walked over to my counter with a slight spring in my step.

"I'll leave you two to your devices. Yami, if you want you can join me for sparring later." Natasha called over her shoulder as she left.

"We'll see, Natasha." I said with a smirk. And she left.

I started experimenting with the chemicals and gunpowder, and Banner looked over at me nervously.

"You might want to be careful with that stuff... If you cause an explosion, who knows what'll happen." I knew he was talking about himself.

"No worries. I've worked with this stuff quite a lot. Whoops!" I pretended to put two dangerous chemicals on the gunpowder.

"GAAH!" Banner yelled.

"HA HAHA HAHAHA! You fell for it! I'm not that clumsy!" I laughed.

"Th-that wasn't funny. I was seriously worried. Wh-what if the... other guy came out?" He said worriedly.

"I'm sorry, I just wanted to lighten the mood." I apologized.

…

"It's alright." He forgave me. I gave him an apologetic smile.

"So... Wh-what do you need all those components for?" He asked.

"Oh... Well, you want to hear what weapons I'm making, or my specialty?" I asked.

"Umm... both?" He said hesitantly.

"Every assassin has their specialty- I'm sure you've realized. Right?" I asked him.

"Yeah, what about it?" I sighed and answered.

"My specialty is a bit different... Do you know of the 'shadow warriors of Japan'?"

"The term is familiar."

"Well... by 'shadow warriors', they meant ninjas. That's what I am- a ninja. And what I'm making is a smoke bomb. Later I'm going to try to make poison darts."

"I-I see... I wasn't really expecting that." He said with surprise.

"Well, most people don't. Especially since I'm a woman." I muttered.

"I-I didn't mean it that way. I didn't expect it because you don't seem the type to be... violent." That struck a blow inside of me.

"I have one more question." He said hesitantly.

"What is it?" I asked while stuffing a metal ball with gunpowder and the matchstick heads.*

"H-how did you disappear?" I gulped. I knew that question was coming. I poured a mixture chemicals into the ball.

"Let's just say... I'm another Super Soldier Serum reject." I answered simply.

"Super Soldier Serum reject?" He asked. I sighed. I got a small glass cage, activated my newest bomb and rolled it inside. I quickly shut the box. I successfully made a smoke bomb.**

"Alright, you want the whole story?" I asked sadly.

"If you don't mind."

"Very well."

* * *

_I was 11 years old, living in Osaka, Japan. My family was relatively happy, and I loved my parents very much. My father was a scientist, and my mother was a doctor. My father... was called a fraud. People said that his medicines weren't effective. That they only made people worse. His boss wouldn't tolerate it anymore and Father was fired. He snapped._

_My father retained all of his chemicals and other supplies. When he heard about the Super Soldier Serum, he immediately started work on recreating it. Once he thought he finished, he decided to test it on my mother._

_He called my mother to his office, and I secretly followed. When my father approached my mother with the syringe, she was afraid. He still hadn't noticed me. I pushed my mother out of the way, and I tried to pull the serum away from my father's grasp, but he kept hold of it. That's when he decided to inject it into me. I let out a howl of pain, and I promptly turned invisible due to not having control of my new powers._

"_WHAT HAVE YOU DONE!?" My mother screeched at Father._

"_****, she was too young. The serum was faulty." He said under his breath. I didn't notice I was invisible, and I grabbed my mother's hand. I pulled her away from the office, my father still wrapped up in planning a new serum._

"_Is that you, Yami?" My mother asked me._

"_Yes." I answered._

"_I'm so glad you're okay." My mother hugged me, tears dripping down her face. I reappeared._

"_Mommy, I want to leave!" I whispered into her ear._

"_Of course; we need to." We quickly and quietly packed our bags and left for the airport. The only flight left with available seats (and was far enough away) was for London, England. We got on the plane, and never saw my father again. While in London, I practiced controlling my ability to disappear. I soon discovered that I could run faster than normal, had a great throwing arm, abnormal stamina for my age, my strength stayed the same, but I built it up. I also learned that I was very versatile. Ever since those days, I spent my days building up my new skill set so that I could protect my mother and I._

* * *

Once I finished my story, Banner was shocked.

"Well, your father certainly came closer than I ever did." he joked.

"I guess." I said with a small smile.

"But how did you go from protecting your mother, to becoming an assassin?" He asked with blatant curiosity.

I stayed silent. _No, I'm not ready to tell him yet. Not quite yet._

I felt the hairs on my neck stand up, and I turned towards the source of the sudden chill. Loki. Banner seemed to have felt the same chill I did, because he also looked uneasy. Romanov came back, and told us we were needed in the Briefing Room again. We nodded and followed.

* * *

**Sonata: Sorry that this chapter was kinda short, but I'll make it up to you by posting the next one soon!**

**Yami: My whole life story sucks.**

**Sonata: Yeah, I know.**

**Yami: … Do you even care?**

**Sonata: Of course I do! Your father using you as a guinea pig is inexcusable!**

**Bruce: But you had him do it.**

**Sonata: Um... Well, this is what caused her character to develop and mature fast enough to know how crazy the world is. Also, it helped her realize that she shouldn't be too trusting of everyone, because she might get herself into dangerous situations by accident.**

**Yami: … You really thought that answer through.**

**Sonata: Yup. Oh, again, I'm sorry about some OOCness from Bruce, but it was hard for me to picture how he would respond to what Yami says in this chapter. It's bad for me to give excuses, but Bruce's character is so elaborate and complicated!**

**Bruce: Gee thanks.**

**Sonata: No offense.**

***Don't try this at home!**

****I honestly just guessed on how you make a smoke bomb ha ha.**


	4. Chapter 4

**The Ghost: Chapter Four**

**Sonata: Slow update, huh?**

**Yami: Whatever. Just don't leave us on a shelf for ages only to be deleted, just like- mmph! -is cut off by me covering her mouth with my hands-**

**Sonata: Don't you dare mention that name! It haunts me to this day...!**

**Bruce: What name? Did you trash an OC?**

**Sonata: Woah! I'm not that mean! I would never trash an original character!**

**Bruce: So it was a story?**

**Sonata: ...!**

**Bruce: I guess I hit the nail on the head.**

**Sonata: I don't own Marvel Avengers! Copyright goes to Marvel!**

* * *

(Bruce's POV)

I was shocked to say the least. What happened to Ya- Mikazuki in the past, was tragic. I hoped that someday I could be one of those friends to lend an ear, because that's what she needed. _I doubt she'll ever think of me as anything more. Not that I want to be! _I shook my head. _This girl- no, woman, is messing with my thoughts._ Once we reached the Briefing Room, I heard Loki's voice.

"_It's an impressive cage. Not built, I think, for me." Loki said with a smirk._

"_Built for something a lot stronger than you." Fury answered. _

_Ah, isn't that wonderful? They don't trust me. No surprise there._ I thought bitterly.

"_Oh, I've heard." Loki looked straight at the camera. "The mindless beast, makes play he's still a man. How desperate are you, that you call upon such lost creatures to defend you?" Loki sneered._

_'Mindless beast'?, 'Makes play he's still a man'?_ I felt myself feeling rather annoyed, but I felt small warmth on my arm. I looked and saw it was Yami, looking at me worriedly. I smiled at her to reassure her, and she returned it. I felt my face heat up slightly. _I'm already 32, and I still blush like a teenager. _I thought glumly.

"_- threaten my world with war. You steal a force you can't hope to control. You talk about peace, and you kill because it's fun. You have made me very desperate. You might not be glad you did." Fury threatened him._

* * *

(Yami's POV)

I was worried for Bru- Banner, when Loki said that he was, 'a mindless beast'. I wanted to reassure him that I didn't think of him that way, but all I could think of was putting a hand on his arm, and giving him a (hopefully) trusting look. It worked I guess, because he smiled reassuringly at me, and I returned it.

I tuned out the rest of the conversation between Fury and Loki. _It couldn't have been easy capturing Loki, so why does Rogers look unscathed? And why did Loki look... happy to be here?_ I thought worriedly.

"He really grows on you, doesn't he?" Bru- Banner said sarcastically.

"Loki's gonna drag this out. So, Thor, what's his play?" Rogers asked Thor.

"Loki has an army called the Chitauri. They're not of Asgard or any known world. He means to lead them against your people. They will win him the earth. In return, I suspect, the Tesseract." Thor answered grimly.

"An army? From outer space?" Rogers looked shocked.

"He's putting together a portal... So that's what what he needed Selvig for..." I wondered out loud.

"Selvig?" Thor said, surprised.

"He's an astrophysicist." Bru- Banner! answered.

"He's a friend." Thor affirmed.

"Loki has him under a spell, along with one of ours." Natasha informed us. _Barton. _ I was surprised.

"I wanna know why Loki let us take him, he's not leading an army from here." Rogers stated.

"I don't think we should be focusing on Loki. That guy's brain is a bag of cats, you could smell crazy on him." Bruce commented. I mean, Banner commented.

"I don't care how you speak. Loki is beyond reason, but he is of Asgard, and he's my brother." Thor defended Loki.

"He killed eighty people in two days." I said matter-of-factly.

"He's adopted." I would've chuckled if this weren't such a serious topic.

"Iridium- what did they need the iridium for?" Banner asked nobody in particular. Someone answered.

"It's a stabilizing agent." Said a man who I know to be called 'Tony Stark', CEO of Stark Industries.

"I'll fly you there. Keep the love alive. Means the portal won't collapse on itself, like it did at SHIELD." He paused and patted Thor on the arm, "No hard feelings, Point Break; you've got a mean swing."

He continued walking, "Also, it means the portal can open as wide, and stay open as long, as Loki wants!"

"Uh, raise the mid-mast, ship the top sails. That man is playing GALAGA! He thought we wouldn't notice, but we did." He joked. Stark covered his eye and turned around, examining the monitors.

"How does Fury do this?" He asked nobody in particular.

"He turns." Agent Hill answered simply.

"Sounds exhausting." I saw him pat one of the monitors as he said that. "The rest of the raw materials Agent Barton can get his hands on pretty easily. Only major component he still needs is a power source. A high energy density, something to kick start the cube." He said as he made his way back over to us, sticking his hands in his pockets.

"When did you become an expert in thermo-nuclear astrophysics?" Agent Hill asked him incredulously.

"Last night. The packet, Selvig's notes, the Exctraction Theory papers. Am I the only one who did the reading? And is it just me, or does someone smell like my high school Chemistry classroom?" He asked while sniffing the air.

"Sorry for intruding your sinuses." I said with a mildly annoyed expression.

"Ah, so it was you, cupcake! No worries, I like when a girl is smart!" I rolled my eyes.

"Does Loki need any particular kind of power source?" Rogers asked.

"He'd need to heat the cube to a hundred and twenty-million Kelvin just to break through the Coulomb barrier." Bru- Banner! Banner answered!

"Unless, Selvig has figured out how to stabilize the quantum tunneling effect." Stark added.

"Well, if he could do that he could achieve Heavy Ion Fusion at any reactor on the planet." Bruce- I mean Banner, chimed.

"Finally, someone who speaks English." Stark said while holding out his hand to shake.

"Is that what just happened?" Rogers asked. Banner and Stark shook hands, and I could see that the two really respected the other.

"It's good to meet you, Dr. Banner. Your work on anti-electron collisions is unparalleled. And I'm a huge fan of the way you lose control and turn into an enormous green rage monster." Stark said with a grin.

"... Thanks." Bruce said while looking away.

"Dr. Banner is only here to track the cube. I was hoping you might join him." Fury said, finally joining us.

"Let's start with that stick of his. It may be magical, but it works an awful lot like a Hydra weapon." Steve commented.

"I don't know about that, but it is powered by the cube. And I'd like to know hos Loki used it to turn two of the sharpest men I know into his personal flying monkeys." Fury said sternly.

"Monkeys? I do not understand." Thor said, thoroughly confused.

"I do! I understood that reference." I noticed Stark roll his eyes.

"Shall we play, doctor? Agent Mika?" Stark asked Bruce and I. I rolled my eyes at the nickname, but nodded.

"Let's play some."

* * *

As I focused on making a tear gas bomb, I heard someone call my name.

"Agent Mika, those are some dangerous chemicals you're mixing together. And might I say, you might be needing these." Stark said while handing me some goggles. Not letting go of the dropper, nor taking my eyes off of the test tube, I took the goggles and put them on.

"Thanks." I said while dripping the last drop.

"No problem cupcake, I doubt Dr. Banner here would want you to have red and teary eyes, now would he?" He said while turning towards Banner. I felt myself blush a little. Bruce seemed to not have heard Stark's comment, because he said something completely unrelated.

"The gamma readings are definitely consistent with Selvig's reports on the Tesseract. But it's gonna take weeks to process." He said after scanning the scepter.

"If we bypass their mainframe and direct a reroute to the Homer cluster, we can clock this around six hundred teraflops." Tony commented. _Huh, he let it go._ I thought. I picked up the test tube and shook it gently.

"All I packed was a toothbrush." Bruce joked. _Actually, you didn't pack anything... _I thought silently. I examined the chemicals, and they were reacting properly.

"You know, you should come by Stark Towers sometime. Top ten floors, all R&D. You'd love it, it's candy land." Tony said with a smile.

"Thanks, but the last time I was in New York, I kind of broke... Harlem." Bruce said, ashamed of what happened. I gave him a sympathetic look, but he didn't notice.

"Well, I promise a stress-free environment. No tension, no surprises." Stark said as he poked Bruce with a mini taser.

"Ow!" Banner yelled. Stark was surprised at the lack of reaction.

"Nothing?" Stark asked him. As I was about to scold him, someone cut me off.

"Hey! Are you nuts?" Rogers came in, looking at Stark scoldingly.

"You really have a lid on it, don't you? What's your secret? Mello jazz? Bongo drums? Huge bag of weed?" Stark inquired. I rolled my eyes at his antics.

"Is everything a joke to you?" Rogers asked Stark.

"Funny things are." Stark replied.

"Threatening the safety of everyone on this ship isn't funny. No offense, doc." Rogers scolded him.

"It's alright. I wouldn't have come aboard if I couldn't handle pointy things." Banner said reassuringly. I wondered if he said it partly to himself.

"You're tiptoeing, big man. You need to strut." Stark encouraged Bruce. He started eating from a packet of food.

"And you need to focus on the problem, Stark."

"You think I'm not? Why did Fury call us, and why now? Why not before? What isn't he telling us? I can't do the equation unless I have all the variables. Blueberry?" He said while offering Bruce a packet of... chocolate covered blueberries?

"You think Fury's hiding something?" Rogers asked, surprised.

"He's a spy. Captain, he's _the _spy. His secrets have secrets." He stopped to point at Banner, "It's bugging him too, isn't it?" He asked him.

"Uhh... I just want to finish my work here, and..." Banner began to say.

"Doctor?" Rogers cut in.

" 'A warm light for all mankind,' Loki's jab at Fury about the cube." Banner quoted.

"I heard it."

"Well, I think that was meant for you." Bruce said to Stark- I mean Banner said to Stark...

"Stark Tower? That big ugly..." Stark glared at Rogers. "... building in New York?" He finished.

"It's powered by arc reactors, self-sustaining energy source. That building will run itself for what, a year?" Bruce elaborated.

"That's just the prototype. I'm kind of the only name in clean energy right now." Stark added.

"Then why didn't SHIELD call you in for help on working with the Tesseract?" I asked, realizing where this was going.

"Of course, what are they doing in the energy business in the first place?" Banner asked us.

"I should probably look in to that once my decryption program finishes breaking in to all of SHIELD's secure files." Stark said while walking over towards his monitor.

"I'm sorry, did you say...?" Rogers looked taken aback.

"Jarvis has been running it since I hit the bridge. In a few hours we'll know every dirty secret SHIELD has ever tried to hid." Stark explained. I felt my jaw drop. _No... He absolutely cannot find my file! _I was feeling genuinely afraid.

"Blueberry?" He offered me some of the blueberries.

"No thanks, I'm allergic." I said simply, pretending that nothing was wrong while testing the tear gas on a rat in a larger glass cage. Yup, it worked. I noticed Banner give the rat a sympathetic look. I instantly felt immense guilt.

"Suit yourself." Stark said while popping another in his mouth.

"You're confused about why they didn't want you around?" Rogers seemed extremely aggravated.

"An intelligence organization that fears intelligence? Historically, not awesome." Stark was annoying me as well.

"I think Loki's trying to wind us up. This is a man who means to start a war, and if we don't stay focused, he'll succeed. We have orders, we should follow them." Rogers instructed Stark.

"Following is not really my style." Stark replied.

"And you're all about style, aren't you?" Rogers asked with a sneer.

"Of the people in this room, which one is, A: wearing a spangly outfit, and B: not of use?" Stark insulted Rogers.

"Steve, tell me none of this smells a little funky to you?" Banner asked Rogers.

"Just find the cube." He began to walk away, but he remembered I was there. "None of this bothers you? You work for SHIELD, don't you feel at least a little mad that they're breaking into all of yours and your comrades' files?" Rogers asked me incredulously.

"No. Everyone here has the same story, so I doubt Stark is interested in their files. And quite frankly, I want to see what SHIELD is hiding from me- one of their top agents." I said, not taking my eyes off the suffering rat.

"Fine." Rogers turned and left the lab.

"That 's the guy my dad never shut up about? I'm wondering if they should've kept him on ice." Stark commented.

"The guy's not wrong about Loki. He does have the jump on us." Banner replied.

"What he's got is an ACME dynamite kit. It's gonna blow in his face, and I'm gonna be there when it does." Stark said, now looking at the monitors once more.

"And I'll read all about it."

"Or you'll joining us." I said over my shoulder as I walked off to find Rogers. I didn't want to be there when they found my file.

"Uh see, I don't get a suit of armor. I'm exposed, like a nerve. It's a nightmare." I heard Bruce say sadly. I felt sad too, especially since I didn't know how to make him feel better.

"You know, I've got a cluster of shrapnel, trying every second to crawl its way into my heart. This stops it. This little circle of light, it's part of me now, not just armor. It's a... terrible privilege." Stark assured him. I didn't hear the rest because I was already out the door.

I walked off to find Rogers. I closed my eyes, listening hard. _DON DON. _That had to be his footsteps. No one else here walked so heavily. I followed the noise, and sure enough, it was him.

"What're you up to, Captain?" I asked him once I was right behind him. He suddenly spun around and got into a fighting position. I held up my hands.

"It's just me, Cap." I said tiredly.

"I guess I'm caught red-handed. I'm looking around, hoping to find out what SHIELD _is_ up to." Rogers explained. He soon turned around and slid a heavy door open. He began to go in when he asked me, "Are you coming?"

"Of course. What sort of spy would I be if I weren't eager to snoop?" I said with a grin.

"Alright." We walked in, and it was a large warehouse with numerous crates and file cabinets. Rogers looked up, seeing another floor, and leaped for the catwalk. He pulled himself up and waited for me. I leaped up high, and I managed to grab the catwalk. He held out his hand, I took it. He pulled me up and we continued on.

* * *

(Bruce's POV)

We finished analyzing the scepter a while ago, when Fury came in. He looked mad.

"What are you doing, Stark?" Fury asked Tony.

"Uh... kind of wondering the same thing about you." Tony rebutted.

"You're supposed to be locating the Tesseract." Fury reprimanded.

"We are. The model's locked and we're sweeping for the signature now. When we get a his, we'll have the location within half a mile." I explained.

"And you'll get your cube back, no muss, no fuss." I saw an alert on his monitor, "What is Phase 2?" Tony asked Fury. Steve came in and dropped a weapon on the table, which drew our attention.

"Phase 2 is SHIELD uses the cube to make weapons." He paused to look at Tony, "Sorry, the computer was moving a little slow." Steve explained.

"Honestly Fury, you're letting history repeat itself. Rogers here would know that." Yami said angrily. _So that's where she wandered off to._

"Rogers, Mikazuki, we gathered everything related to the Tesseract. This doesn't mean that we're-" Fury began to 'explain'.

"I'm sorry, Nick." Tony cut him off, "What were you lying?" He said while showing him his monitor which showed weapon plans.

"I was wrong, director. The world hasn't changed a bit." Steve said angrily. I noticed Thor and Agent Romanoff enter the lab. I felt the... other guy rising up, and I couldn't keep my emotions in check very well.

"Did you know about this?" I asked her while gesturing towards the monitor.

"You wanna think about removing yourself from this environment, doctor?" She asked in return as she approached me.

"I was in Calcutta, I was pretty well removed." I responded.

"Loki's manipulating you." She warned me.

"And you've been doing what, exactly?" I refuted.

"You didn't come because she bat her eyelashes at you." She said while pointing at Yami.

"Yeah, but I'm not leaving just because suddenly you get a little twitchy. I'd like to know why SHIELD is using the Tesseract to build weapons of mass destruction." I said, my annoyance with SHIELD showing through.

"Because of him." Fury answered and pointed at Thor.

"Me?" He was stunned.

"Last year, Earth had a visitor from another planet that had a grudge match that leveled a small town. We learned that not only are we not alone, but we are hopelessly- hilariously, outgunned." Fury elaborated.

"My people want nothing but peace with your planet." Thor defended.

"But you're not the only people out there, are you? And, you're not the only threat. The world's filling up with people who can't be matched, they can't be controlled." Fury explained.

"Like you controlled the cube?" Steve asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Your work with the Tesseract is what drew Loki to it, and his allies. It is a signal to all the realms that Earth is ready for a higher form of war." Thor berated Fury.

"A higher form?" Rogers asked incredulously.

"You forced our hand. We had to come up with something." Fury defended himself.

* * *

(Yami's POV)

"A nuclear deterrent. Because that always calms everything right down." Stark rebutted.

"Remind me again how you made your fortune, Stark?" Fury retaliated.

"I'm sure that if he still made weapons, Stark would be neck deep-"

"Wait! Wait! Hold on! How is this about me?"

"I'm sorry, isn't everything?"

"I thought humans were more evolved than this."

"Excuse me, did _we_ come to _your_ planet and blow stuff up?"

"Did you always give your champions such mistrust?"

"Are you boys really that naive? SHIELD monitors potential threats!"

"Am I on that list?" I asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Of course. You all are." Natasha said coldly. _Really Fury? You really don't trust me, huh? And bloody h*** Nat, I thought we were friends! _I noticed Bruce give me a concerned glance.

"You know where my loyalty lies, Fury." I said venomously.

"You speak of control, yet you court chaos." Thor said with a frown.

"It's his M.O., isn't it? I mean, what are we, a team? No, no, no. We're a chemical mixture that creates chaos. We're- we're a time bomb!" Banner argued with Fury.

"You need to step away." Fury warned him. Stark put an arm around Rogers.

"Come on, why shouldn't the little guy let off a little steam?" Stark asked innocently.

"You know d*** well why! Back off!" Rogers argued while shoving Stark off.

"Oh, I'm starting to want you to make me." Stark said to Rogers while looking him straight in the face.

"Big man in a suit of armor. Take that off, what are you?" Rogers challenged him.

"Genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist." Stark said, and gave Romanoff a look. She shrugged in reply.

"I know guys with none of that worth ten of you. Yeah, I've seen the footage. The only thing you really fight for is yourself. You're not the guy to make the sacrifice play, lie down on a wire and let the other guy crawl on top of you."

"I think I'd just cut the wire." Stark said simply.

"Always a way out... You know, you may not be a threat, but you better stop pretending to be a hero." Rogers retaliated. _That was a bit harsh, Rogers. And people say _I'm_ the ice queen._

Stark snapped. "A hero, like you? You're a lab rat, rogers. Everything special about you came from a bottle!"

"Put on the suit, let's go a few rounds."

Thor laughed. "You people are so petty... And tiny." He added when he saw me. I glared in reply.

"Agent Romanoff, would you escort Dr. Banner back to his-" Fury began.

"Where? You rented my room." Banner spat (not literally of course).

"The cell was just in case-" Fury began to explain.

"In case you needed to kill me, but you can't! I know! I tried!" I felt my heart (which many people think is inexistent) sink. I knew that my face showed uncharacteristic worry, but I didn't care.

"I got low. I didn't see an end, so I put a bullet in my mouth and the other guy spat it out! So I moved on. I focused on helping other people. I was good, until you dragged me back into this freak show and put me and everyone else at risk!" I could see the anger rising up in him. I started slowly making my way over to him.

"You want to know my secret? You wanna know how I stay calm?" I saw his hand reach for the scepter. I knew that by now Fury and Romanoff were reaching for their guns.

"Dr. Banner, please put down the scepter." I said calmly. He looked down and saw the scepter in his hand. He was shocked, and mortified

There was a beep and we all turned our heads towards the source.

"Got it." Stark said. Bruce put down the scepter and walked over to a monitor. "Sorry, kids. Looks like you don't get to see my party trick after all." He joked mirthlessly.

"Located the Tesseract?" Thor asked Stark.

"I can get there faster." Stark volunteered.

"Look, all of us-" Rogers began.

"The Tesseract belongs on Asgard, no human is a match for it." Thor cut him off. Stark was about to leave, but Rogers stopped him.

"You're not going alone!"

"You gonna stop me?" Stark asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Put on the suit, let's find out."

"I'm not afraid to hit an old man."

"Put on the suit."

"Your childish fighting needs to come to an end!" I yelled at them, completely annoyed by their constant, old lady-like bickering.

I heard Banner say, "Oh, my ***!" I had a sinking feeling in my gut, then it happened.

_KABOOM_

The floor sank in, and Banner and I went with it.

* * *

**Sonata: That took FOREVER!**

**Yami: What was all the censoring for?**

**Sonata: Shouldn't you know that? After all, you pretty much live in my brain and on this screen.**

**Yami: Right.**

**Sonata: Anyway, I simply do NOT agree with cussing, okay?**

**Bruce: Sure.**

**Yami: So, about how long will it take you to update again?**

**Sonata: Um.. Um... Please review! Reviews = faster updates! -bows and runs out of the room-**


	5. Chapter 5

**The Ghost: Chapter Five**

**Sonata: Ha! Told you I'd be updating this month!**

**Yami: Nobody said you wouldn't.**

**Sonata: Oh! Please check my profile and vote on my poll!**

**Yami: Where's Bru- I mean, Dr. Banner?**

**Sonata: -grins- He he he.**

**Yami: What?**

**Sonata: You were about to say 'Bruce'!**

**Yami: Whatever.**

**Sonata: Why do you want to know where he is?**

**Yami: I want to talk to him.**

**Sonata: He's not in here since he's currently 'Hulking-out'. So... why'd you almost call him 'Bruce'?**

**Yami: Sonata doesn't own The Avengers. Copyright goes to Marvel.**

**Sonata: Hey! Wa-**

* * *

(Yami's POV)

I woke up and I was on the ground. I tried to get up, but I felt a large amount of weight on my back. I looked around, and I saw Romanoff. My head started spinning, but I still looked around. I saw a blur that looked like Bruce. He looked like he was in pain.

"Bruce...? You're okay... you're... gonna be... okay... I... promise..." I said slowly. My head was still hurting. _I probably have a slight concussion._

"YOU PROMISE!?" My ears began to ring. _I can't calm down the Hulk in this state..._

"Yami! Be quiet! I need to get you out!" Romanoff whispered to me harshly. She pulled me out and helped me to my feet. My head span again, and I fell to the floor. She pulled me up and supported me (which isn't a difficult feat since I'm shorter than her).

"Wait... need to- need... to help... Bruce..." I said slowly as she tried to bring me away from him.

"Are you right in the head!? There's no helping him now!" I shrugged her off, and fell to my knees. I pulled myself up using a wall, and slowly made my way to Bruce. He was completely green now. Only a matter of time before he's the Hulk.

"Bruce...! You're gonna... be... alright..! You're go-" I was cut off. It was too late. He was the Hulk again.

"GRAAAAAHHHH!" My ears were ringing again.

"H-hey buddy..." I said, hoping that he would recognize me.

"REI HURT!" He said, pointing at my head. I suddenly felt warm liquid flowing down the side of my face. _Wonderful..._

"I'm alright... Just... just a little scratch..." _Like h*** it's just a scratch._

"HULK HELP REI!" He was reaching to touch my head, but a shot rang out. _No! He wasn't going to hurt me!_

"GRAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!" The Hulk yelled out in anger. He grabbed me (rather roughly, I might add), and went charging after Romanoff. _I'm going to be sick..._ He kept chasing her, and he hit her into a wall. _Ouch_. He was about to hit her again, but someone crashed into us. I got a quick glance, and I saw it was Thor. We went through the wall and ended up in a different room. I ended up on the ground again, and I saw Thor and Bruce begin to fight.

"We are not your enemies, Banner! Try to think!" Thor protested. My vision began to blur, and I heard crashing all around me. I heard yelling, then gusts of wind. I felt myself being pulled, and I opened my eyes to see that I was falling. I saw the Hulk, and he was falling as well.

"Bruce...!" I yelled, hoping he would hear me. He grabbed me _again_ and we plummeted down to the ground together. I held on tightly to him, hoping that somehow we would live.

* * *

I started to wake up, and I felt warmth. I snuggled into it, and opened my eyes. It was Bruce. I sat up and looked around. My head was fuzzy, but I was able to make things out. We were in what looked like an abandoned warehouse, and there was rubble everywhere. I looked at Bruce to see how he was doing. Big mistake. He was... naked... I quickly turned away, and my face felt like it was on fire. _No no no no no no no! Calm down, you didn't see anything... I didn't see anything...! _I rocked back and forth, trying to believe myself. I heard shifting, and I panicked.

"Y-yami...? Where are we...? And why are you... oh. Sorry." He apologized awkwardly.

"I-it's alright... Um.. I think we're in a warehouse..." I said, trying to disguise my embarrassment.

"Oh..." We sat in awkward silence. I pulled my knees to myself, and I heard a voice.

"Was waiting for you two to wake up." I head an old man's voice. I looked up, and my suspicions were correct.

"Did I hurt anyone?" Bruce asked the old man.

"Nobody around here to hurt. Scared the he** out of some pigeons though." He said with a shrug.

"Lucky."

"Or just good aim. You were awake when you two fell." He added.

"You saw?" Bruce asked, surprised.

"The whole thing, right through the ceiling. Big and green, and buck-a** nude. Here." He tossed some pants over to Bruce, and I ducked. "I didn't think those would fit you until you shrunk down to a regular size fella."

"Thank you." I heard Bruce say.

...

"Are you an alien?" I had to bite back a laugh at that question.

"What?" Bruce asked, taken completely by surprise this time.

"From outer space, an alien?"

"No."

"Well son, you have a condition." He walked away.

I cleared my throat and turned back around. "Well, that was.. hm.. interesting." I said awkardly.

"I guess." He said as he put on the shirt.

…

"Bruce... I just want to say... I'm sorry." I said and looked at my lap.

"For what?" He asked me.

"For lying to you, for pretending to be someone else, and for hurting you." I said and twiddled with my fingers. I felt a strange emotion overcome me. Worry. _Why am I worried?_I sat there, thinking. _I'm worried that he won't accept me... The world is so cruel. Why did I have to fall in love with a man who I have no chance of being with?_

"I forgive you." He said and scooted towards me.

"You do?" I was incredulous. _How could he forgive me?_

He lifted my chin to have me look at him. "I do. But I have to know, was what you said to... the other guy true?" He asked me while looking me right in the eye.

"It was true. You are my friend, Bruce." I said earnestly.

"Can I trust you?" He asked me, his eyes studying mine.

"Absolutely." He closed the distance, and I felt a shiver go down my spine. As quickly as it came, it left.

"I shouldn't have done that." He said quietly, and scooted away. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have forced that on you."

"I didn't mind..." I said, looking away due to embarrassment at what I just admitted.

"Y-you didn't?" He turned back towards me.

"No, I didn't... because... because I love you." I said, and I could tell my face was a deep red.

"You do?" I could tell he was surprised, and I simply nodded as an answer.

I heard him scoot close to me again, and I looked up. "Could you say that again, please?" He asked with a tender smile.

"I love you, Bruce." He leaned in.

His lips were just a hair away, and I closed my eyes. "I love you too." His lips met mine again, and my heart was pounding harder than before. I felt his arms wrap around me, and he pulled me closer to him. The need for air surfaced, and I pulled away (though reluctantly).

"Er... um.. we should probably go, er... save the world?" I suggested awkwardly. _I'm supposed to be the confident one. Why am I a nervous mess around him?_

"Oh, right." I saw a faint blush on his face. _I guess I'm not the only one._ I checked my ear, and felt my comm still there.

"Agent Mikazuki, checking in." I said once it was on.

"Agent Mikazuki, you're alive!?" Greeted a familiar agent.

"Good day, Agent Reynolds. Please alert Director Fury that myself, and Dr. Banner are no longer MIA." I said with my usual bored tone.

"Right away. Anything else?" I looked around and saw that Bruce was gone. He must have gone to find a ride.

"I request information on Loki. Any attacks?" I asked with hidden anxiousness.

"The remaining members of 'The Avengers Initiative' are flying to New York." He answered.

"'Remaining'?" I wasn't able to keep the surprise out of my voice.

"Thor is MIA, and officially speaking, so are you and Dr. Banner." _Thor? What happened to him?_

"I'm in the Initiative?" I was shocked.

"Yes, you are. Shall I alert the other members of your status?"

"No, I'd like to surprise them." I said with a smirk.

"Very well. Agent Reynolds signing off."

"Agent Mikazuki signing off."

* * *

(Bruce's POV)

While Yami was on the... comm, I was looking for a means of transport. I looked outside, and saw a beat up motorcycle. I started work on it once I found a toolbox. It was a long process, but I didn't mind. I thought back to the kiss, and I smiled. _She loves me._ That thought kept me going. I was so wrapped up in my thoughts and work, that I didn't notice the person of my thoughts coming up to me.

"Are we ready to go?" She asked me. I jumped a little out of surprise.

"You surprised me." I said while clutching my chest.

"Sorry."

"It's alright. But yeah, we're good to go." I stood up and faced her. She was still flushed from our kiss, and she looked... cute. Her face was slightly red, her eyes were bright and expressive, and her hair was slightly messy, but it looked good. I shook my head at my thoughts, and hopped on the bike.

"Hop on." I said with a smile. She nodded and hopped on behind me.

…

"Why aren't you starting it?" She asked.

"You need to put y-your arms around me if you w-want to hold on." I said, feeling a little embarrassed.

"Oh." She put her arms around me, and held on tightly.

"Ready?" I asked her uncertainly.

"Yeah." I started, and we went off. It was probably... forty miles per hour max.

"Um... you probably don't need to hold on so tightly." I said, feeling rather embarrassed at how slow it was.

"Right." She loosened her hold on me, and I felt her rest her head on my back. I felt myself blush a little. _Again with the blushing?_

"Tired?" I asked her.

"A little." She answered with a yawn.

"How's your head?" I asked feeling concerned.

"Feeling better. I have a faster recovery rate, but sleep helps me recover even faster." I took the hint.

"You can go ahead and sleep, I'll make sure you don't fall off." I said with a chuckle.

I could tell she was smiling from her tone. "Okay, thank you." It was a long ride, but I could bear it since she was with me. When we approached the city, I gently shook her awake.

"Hmm...? Whazzat?" I laughed at her sleepiness, but soon remembered the dilemma happening around us.

"We're here."

"Bloody he**." I heard her comment breathlessly. I couldn't do anything but agree.

* * *

**Sonata: Again, I apologize for the slight OOCness from Bruce. Oh yeah, readers, please tell me what you thought of the kiss scene, it was my first time writing one!**

**Yami: No need to embarrass me any further.**

**Bruce: Well, you certainly updated faster than expected.**

**Sonata: I know! But I have to admit, this chapter is sort've a sleepy one.**

**Bruce: I never got to hear which story you trashed.**

**Sonata: Errrr... I'm re-writing it, so it doesn't really matter! Please review!**


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